From the atlas
Weingut Katharina Wechsler
At A Glance
Weingut Katharina Wechsler is a family estate in Westhofen, Rheinhessen, run by Katharina Wechsler. Since taking over in 2017, she has moved the property from bulk wine towards estate-bottled, terroir-oriented wines, with dry Riesling at the centre and Pinot varieties, Sauvignon Blanc and regional grapes alongside it.
Riesling accounts for roughly one third of the vines, while Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir occupy another third. The remaining plantings bring Sauvignon Blanc and regional varieties into the cellar, so the range moves from dry white wine to rosé, natural wine and orange wine rather than staying within one grape or one format.
The Producer
Katharina Wechsler grew up in Westhofen on her family’s bulk-wine estate, then left for studies in Paris and Stuttgart before becoming a junior television editor in Berlin in 2006. Her return in 2009 led to winemaking school in nearby Oppenheim; her 2017 takeover put her name on the label and redirected the business towards bottles shaped by grape and vineyard work.
Manuel Maier joined the management team in April 2022. The estate’s current character comes from that family property being used for a wider set of wines: dry Riesling provides the white-wine backbone, while Burgundian grapes and more experimental skin-contact wines broaden what Westhofen can look like in bottle.
Place
Westhofen sits in Rheinhessen, and it is the fixed address behind wines that may otherwise seem stylistically far apart. A dry Riesling and a lightly sparkling rosé carry different grapes and methods, but both begin in the same family estate whose plantings are divided across Riesling, Burgundian varieties, Sauvignon Blanc and regional grapes.
That mixed planting changes the shape of the list. Riesling can be handled as a dry, stainless-steel white, while Spätburgunder can become rosé and Pinot Noir can sit beside Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Westhofen here is not a single-grape statement; it is the point from which several wine styles are grown.
Soil And Site
Published vineyard figures range from 16 to 19 hectares, with the regional Rheinhessen directory listing 19 hectares. Rather than attaching unverified soil types to those rows, the estate’s site work is most clearly seen in what is put back into them: compost made from horse manure, grape pomace and green waste, plus more than thirty herbs planted between the vines.
Organic certification has applied from the 2021 vintage, after a conversion process begun in 2018, and biodynamic practice began with the 2020 vintage. Those choices move vineyard care towards compost, plants and seasonal work in the rows, providing the fruit base for the estate’s dry whites, Pinot wines and rosé.
Story
The estate’s change began with a family problem rather than a marketing plan. Wechsler had grown up around bulk wine, but her adult life had taken her to Berlin television. When she returned in 2009 and began wine school, she entered a working farm with a different task ahead: turn family vineyards into wines sold under a producer’s name.
By 2017 she had formally taken over and renamed the estate for herself. The consequence is visible in the range: a property once oriented towards bulk production now bottles dry Riesling, wines from Chardonnay and the Pinot family, Sauvignon Blanc, natural wines and orange wines. The shift concerns what reaches the label as much as what happens in the vineyard.
Vineyards And Cellar
The estate describes a cellar method built around whole-cluster pressing, six to 24 hours of settling, stainless-steel fermentation and ageing, no bâtonnage, gentle filtration and bottling when ready. Stainless steel keeps oak out of the foreground, while leaving the lees undisturbed avoids adding a stirred, creamy texture to every wine.
The 2022 Riesling Trocken followed a more specific route. Its destemmed whole grapes fermented naturally for twelve days before pressing, then underwent malolactic fermentation and spent seven months on lees in stainless steel. The wine’s body therefore comes from fermentation and lees time rather than barrel flavour, bringing texture to a dry Riesling without an oak frame.
Wines
Riesling is the estate’s core dry white, but it is one part of a deliberately mixed range. The 2022 Riesling Trocken shows a lees-shaped, stainless-steel route; other plantings allow Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris to bring different body and fruit profiles, while Pinot Noir can provide cherry-fruited red wine or colour and fruit for rosé.
Fräulein Hu Rosé 2025 is a separate branch of the range: 90% Spätburgunder and 10% Dornfelder, hand-harvested and vinified separately. Carbon dioxide added at bottling creates 2.5 bar of pressure, putting it in the Perlwein category. With 3 grams per litre of sugar, it is dry in overall feel, though the small mousse softens the acidity at the finish.
Natural and orange wines extend the offer beyond the estate’s dry white core. Their presence matters because it shows that Wechsler uses the same Westhofen base for conventional dry bottlings as well as wines where skin contact or a less conventional style is more visible in the glass.
In The Glass
Fräulein Hu Rosé 2025 leads with watermelon, grapefruit, redcurrant, strawberry, raspberry, herbs and blood orange. Its fresh acidity keeps those red-fruit notes lively, while the 2.5-bar mousse adds a light, prickling texture rather than the fuller pressure of sparkling wine; the finish is dry with a small rounded edge from its residual sugar.
The 2022 Riesling Trocken takes a different structural path. Twelve days of natural fermentation before pressing, followed by malolactic fermentation and seven months on lees, place texture and mid-palate weight beside Riesling’s acidity. Stainless steel and the absence of oak keep the wine’s shape focused on fruit, lees and dry finish rather than vanilla or toast.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Fräulein Hu Rosé 2025. It is a Westhofen Perlwein made from 90% Spätburgunder and 10% Dornfelder, so it introduces a Pinot-led side of the estate rather than repeating its Riesling work. Hand harvesting and separate vinification keep the two grapes distinct before bottling, where added carbon dioxide supplies the gentle mousse.
The bottle brings immediate fruit—watermelon, redcurrant, grapefruit and blood orange—then fresh acidity and a dry finish. Its modest 3 grams per litre of sugar and 2.5-bar pressure make it approachable without turning it sweet or heavy. Drink it now, chilled, for a clear view of how the estate carries its vineyard range into an energetic rosé.
Anecdote
In 2009, Katharina Wechsler was working in television in Berlin when her mother called with news from Westhofen: the mixed family farm would close unless someone came back to take it on. The property combined vineyards with other crops, and there was nobody in place to continue the work. Wechsler returned that year and began winemaking school in Oppenheim. Eight years later, in 2017, she formally took over, put her own name on the estate and changed its direction from bulk wine towards quality- and terroir-oriented bottlings. The family farm that had called her back now produces dry Riesling, wines from Pinot varieties, natural wines and orange wines under the Wechsler label.
Final Word
Weingut Katharina Wechsler is worth seeking out for the change written into its bottles: a Westhofen bulk-wine estate became a named producer with dry Riesling at its core, a broad planting mix around it, and a rosé that turns Spätburgunder and Dornfelder into bright fruit, acidity and gentle mousse.
Sources
- https://thesourceimports.com/producers/katharina-wechsler/
- https://germanwineusa.com/whose-wine-is-it-anyway-meet-katharina-wechsler/
- https://www.rheinhessen.de/winzer-in-rheinhessen/a-weingut-wechsler
- https://www.jamessuckling.com/wine-tasting-reports/our-wine-choice-katharina-wechsler-riesling-rheinhessen-trocken-2022
- https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/cazes-rivesaltes-9026801/
- https://thesourceimports.com/product/2022-riesling-trocken/
- https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/fraulein-hu-rose-9224701/
- https://www.enjoywine.se/sortiment/wechsler-fraulein-hu-rose-2/